Axial thrust loading mitigation in a turbocharger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11143207-B2
Application number	US-201916513572-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2019
Priority date	Oct 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 12, 2021
Grant date	Oct 12, 2021

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for a turbocharger system to reduce and balance axial thrust load on the turbine shaft and the associated bearing system and sealing. In one example, a partial back plate compressor may be used in combination with an axial turbine to reduce axial thrust load and to improve turbocharger transient response time. In another example, a regenerative turbocharger system with back-to-back turbo pump may be used to reduce and balance axial thrust load.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A regenerative turbocharger system of an internal combustion engine, comprising:
a partial back plate compressor;
a back-to-back hydraulic turbine comprising two turbine rotors coupled back-to-back;
a turbine;
a back-to-back turbo pump;
a common turbine shaft, the back-to-back hydraulic turbine, the partial back plate compressor, the back-to-back turbo pump, and the turbine each mounted on the common turbine shaft; and
a seal positioned between a housing of the back-to-back hydraulic turbine and the common turbine shaft at a location spaced away from a high pressure area adjacent to a plurality of back-to-back rotary blades and an inlet in the back-to-back hydraulic turbine.

2. The regenerative turbocharger system of claim 1 , wherein the back-to-back hydraulic turbine receives hydraulic fluid compressed by an engine-driven hydraulic pump.

3. The regenerative turbocharger system of claim 1 , wherein the back-to-back turbo pump is a hydraulically driven pump receiving hydraulic fluid from the internal combustion engine and connecting to a high pressure hydraulic fluid tank.

4. The regenerative turbocharger system of claim 3 , wherein the high pressure hydraulic fluid tank is fluidically coupled to the back-to-back hydraulic turbine.

5. The regenerative turbocharger system of claim 1 , wherein the partial back plate compressor comprises an impeller having a back plate with a plurality of cut-out sections distributed along an outer circumferential edge of the impeller.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Sun Harold Huimin
• Hu Leon
• Hanna Dave R
• Yi Jianwen James
• Curtis Eric Warren

Classifications

• F04D25/024 Primary

  the driving means being assisted by a power recovery turbine · CPC title

• F02C6/12

  Turbochargers, i.e. plants for augmenting mechanical power output of internal-combustion piston engines by increase of charge pressure · CPC title

• F01D3/00

  Machines or engines with axial-thrust balancing effected by working-fluid · CPC title

• F02B37/12 Primary

  Control of the pumps · CPC title

• F04D29/051

  Axial thrust balancing · CPC title